News Archive April 2009

From: The Sudbury Star
by Ed Veilleux
Posted: April 28, 2009

Richard P. Migneault has seen KISS perform nine times, but nothing would be sweeter than seeing them again, this time in Sudbury.

"As a KISS fan, that's a big deal," he said. "For the last 32 years, every time you wanted to go see KISS, you had to travel abroad."

KISS is touring North America this fall and they are choosing the venues based on fan voting.

"You want us to play, you want us to come to your city, you let us know," Paul Stanley, of KISS, said in a video sent out from a South American tour stop. "You stand up and you be counted."

The top 40 cities are shown, but it is unclear how many venues the band will play.

Migneault has been a fan since 1977 and he says KISS regularly performs more than 40 shows per tour.

"If you look up previous tours by the group, they've always performed more than 40 dates on every tour," he said.

As of Monday, Sudbury ranked 14th on the list.

"I'm surprised we're at number 14 right now, considering there are like 6,000 cities in the running," Migneault said.

To keep its spot, the city needs people to vote, he said.

"Even non-fans, if they could even vote, that would make a big difference, too. I'm sure it's going to be a sellout."

Migneault said KISS appeals mostly to people 40-plus, but younger audiences who grew up listening to them are also showing interest in the band.

"It's kind of being passed on from generation to generation," he said.

The appeal of KISS is their stage presence, says the fan of 32 years.

"The thing is, it's not so much the music, the music is OK -- it's the spectacle," Migneault said. "It's the performance that really catches my attention. There's just too many bands out there that just stand on stage and strum. If they're just going to play music and not do anything, I might as well just buy their CD."

He attributes the band's staying power to their dynamic stage presence.

"They have a magical formula there that they use, and they've been using it for 35 years," Migneault said. "You know what you're going to get when you pay that ticket price. There's a lot of stage antics, a lot of showmanship, a lot of entertainment. It's everything, it's just fun to watch."